Before it became a six-story Upper East Side residence with a private spa, wine cellar, and garage that doubles as a party space, this East 70th Street townhouse served as a carriage house for some of New York’s wealthiest families. Designed by C.P.H. Gilbert in 1902, the building has since passed through the hands of several prominent owners.
It was originally built a horse stabling block with staffing quarters for banker Henri P. Wertheim before serving as a private auto garage for Singer sewing machine heir Stephen C. Clark. It later belonged to philanthropists Paul and Bunny Mellon, who owned it for more than 40 years and reportedly used it to park their cars and store furniture. Today, it belongs to former Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack and his wife, Christy, who are preparing to leave New York for North Carolina.
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The $80 million townhouse has six elevator-serviced floor, plus a roof terrace.
Francisco Rosario; DD-Reps
The Macks purchased the property in 2009 for $13.5 million, when it was still being used as a garage. They spent the next six years transforming the 33-foot-wide building into a roughly 16,000-square-foot home, keeping the landmarked limestone facade while reinforcing the structure with steel beams and adding a floor. An elevator services all six levels. Christy led the design process, working with architecture and interiors firm Sawyer Berson.
The finished home has 20 rooms, with six bedrooms, six bathrooms, plus seven powder rooms and six wood-burning fireplaces. The interiors mix traditional details with more modern, glamorous touches, including oak floors, custom wallpaper, and lighting by Armani, Ralph Pucci, and Allison Berger. There are a few reminders of the building’s former life, too; the basement gym’s walls are lined with thick chestnut wood salvaged from the ramps once used to move horses through the building.
The top-floor solarium creates a bright lounge space with city views.
Francisco Rosario; DD-Reps
The parlor floor entertaining spaces include a living room that stretches the full width of the home, a dining room wrapped in gray lacquered wood paneling, and an eat-in chef’s kitchen that opens to a garden terrace. A large third-floor library and a smaller adjacent den share a wet bar. The primary suite, also on the third floor, has three separate and spacious dressing rooms and two marble bathrooms. Three additional en-suite bedrooms and a secondary den with another wet bar open onto a nearly 600-square-foot terrace. The top floor has two soundproof offices and a glass-roofed solarium. Stairs continue up to a landscaped rooftop terrace.
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A private wellness suite includes a plunge pool, sauna, and steam room.
Francisco Rosario; DD-Reps
Behind the garage and foyer on the ground floor are a 13-seat screening room and a one-bedroom, one-bath guest or staff suite with a full kitchen, while the finished basement offers a temperature-controlled wine cellar with space for 6,319 bottles and a resort-like wellness area with a hot tub, cold plunge, steam room, sauna, and dedicated massage area. Extensive storage and a laundry room that doubles as a catering kitchen complete the floor.
The Macks are asking $80 million for the property, making it the most expensive townhouse currently on the market in New York City. Mike Fabbri of The Agency has the listing. A sale close to that price would surpass the current Manhattan townhouse record of $77.1 million, set in 2019 by a home at 14 East 67th Street. That residence, once owned by Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione, is now owned by hedge fund founder John Griffin.
Click here to see more photos of this Upper East Side townhouse.
Francisco Rosario; DD-Reps
Authors
Abby Montanez
Abigail Montanez is a staff writer at Robb Report. She has worked in both print and digital publishing for over half a decade, covering everything from real estate, entertainment, dining, travel to…